Jeremie Chronicles: Jeremie's Therapy
by Cadence Hopkins
Summary: Aelita became infected with a virus placed within her by Xana, that forced her into doing horrible and unspeakable things, Jeremie had no other way to free her than to kill her. Now at the age of 38 he's trying to cope with that, his family: wife Emily, and loving daughter Maddie wanna see him well again, and send him to therapy, hoping Dr. De'Ath can put Jeremie's past behind him
1. Chapter 1

JEREMIE CHRONICLES: Remedies of the past will dissolve"

Prologue

It had been several years since anyone talked about it. It had been several months since the government came into Jeremie's life hoping to find out more information on the super computer and Xana.

And also what really happened to Aelita.

Several years back, the Lyoko Warriors were in the biggest fight of their lives. Xana had pulled one last trick before the super computer was shut down for good. That is until the government got their hands on it. Aelita was cursed with what became known as the Xana virus, deep within her DNA he laid asleep until he began forcing her to do horrible unspeakable things. It wasn't easy then, and it's not easy now. But the only way to free Aelita from the mercy of Xana was to kill her, Jeremie NEVER got over it, but he did manage to move on. For now Jeremie was 38, and he was happily married to a girl named Emily. Emily and Jeremie together made a baby girl, Madeline. They spent many happy days together. At least they tried. With the government hanging over their heads, watching their house, tracking Jeremie, and Xana still on the move, it was a hard life for the entire family even more so for Jeremie. Jeremie tried his best day in and day out to forget he killed Aelita, but he could never get it off his mind. Finally Emily enlisted Jeremie in some help, and even though Jeremie wasn't willing to get help at first, he did try to seek help because he loved Emily dearly. For her, he'd do anything. Our story begins on Jeremie's first therapy session the first day Jeremie attempted to forget Aelita. Is it possible? Let's see….

JEREMIE POV

I sat next to Emily in the waiting room. I kept looking at my watch wishing time would speed up but sadly that never happened. Emily took notice of this and looked at me with concerned eyes.

"Jeremie…we'll be out of here in a few minutes okay."

"I'm starting to think it was wrong coming here."

Emily sighed heavily and placed her hand on mine before speaking again.

"Jeremie, you want to forget the past I know you do; now we are going to help you, Dr. De'Ath and I will make you forget."

"I know….but I don't think I want to forget."

"Yes you do….for Maddie."

I looked at her slowly and sighed. She only stared at me and said nothing more.

"For Maddie." I replied back.

In that moment, I looked up when a nurse came out from behind a door.

"Jeremie Belpois?" She said.

I stood and slowly followed her down a long hallway. Emily was left in the waiting room, and I began to grow more and more nervous as I followed the nurse. I didn't know what to think, or what to do, or what I was going to say to this Dr. De'Ath. Suddenly my thoughts were interrupted.

"Is this your first time consulting with Robert?" The nurse asked.

"Robert?" I replied a little confused.

"Dr. Robert De'Ath, yes, that's him…he's a mind over matter genius, it's not as bad as you think, he's really quite the gentleman and he's memorable."

"O…kay." I said slowly. Still unsure about this whole situation.

From the hall we entered a bare room. Inside the room were two chairs. Nothing more. The nurse told me to take a sit in the chair, and I did as I was told. From there as I looked around the bare room and up at the fluorescent light, she placed a heart monitor on my wrist.

"Why do I need one of those?" I asked.

"Dr. De'Ath has told us that pain in the past pumps up the heart, and if you're going to be talking about the past to get ready for the future, it's important we monitor your heart to see if the treatment is taking effect on you with each session you have with Robert. If your heart is normal when you talk about your past at the end of the week, then you should be cured.

"Interesting."

I let out a sigh and she smiled up at me.

"Okay, the doctor should be with you shortly."

With that she left and I was alone. I sighed again and looked down. It was a mistake to come here. I closed my eyes and took in a breath, when I opened my eyes, Dr. De'Ath was staring at me. I let out a scream and the heart monitor beeped. I was in shock. He suddenly grabbed me.

"Calm yourself…I didn't mean to startle you. Hello, I'm Dr. Robert De'Ath.

"I'm Jeremie Belpois." I replied.

"Funny don't you have a doctorate?"

"I do….but I prefer just Jeremie Belpois."

"Well nice to meet you."

He held out his hand and I grasped it firmly and shook it.

"What a grip you have their Jeremie."

"Thanks….I guess."

After I spoke the heart monitor beeped again and I looked down at it.

"Nervous, are we?"

"A little."

"Relax, you have nothing to be nervous about. So…let's just get right down to it. How are you?

I was coming to him for help, and his first question was how are you? I looked around highly confused before responding.

"Fine? How are you?"

"Fine, thank you…..tell me…..

In that moment he quickly grabbed my face and I let out a scream.

"Ssh!"

The heart monitor continued to beep and I began to sweat.

"How's your wife?"

"F….fine….she's fine….."

"And your daughter?"

"She's….fine too….."

Dr. De'Ath looked closely at me before turning me lose, then the monitor began to beep slower.

"Tell me, how come you can talk about your family out of stress and in stress so easily?"

"I….I don't know…."

"You're breathings a little slower now, and so is your heart, it's different from when I first came in here."

I held my chest and coughed and sighed heavily.

"My family supports me and it's the only way I know how to calm down. Their love keeps me moving."

"Did you work hard to get that love?"

"No."

"Interesting….you know your wife, I remember her, from way back when, but she has told me everything about you.

"I hope not everything." I said quickly.

He stared at me and then looked down. After that he slowly took off his glasses and began cleaning them.

"Oh but she has."

He paused and held his glasses up to the light and rubbed them some more.

"About Lyoko…."

My eyes began to widen.

"Xana…..and even…..

He placed his glasses back on his face and looked up at me slowly.

"Aelita."

I couldn't speak. Just the sound of her name was enough to send me spiraling.

"But don't worry….anything that goes on in here is a complete secret. So you can tell me anything….and plus….How can I help you if I don't know what the problem is, hm?"

I could only nod in agreement.

"Let's start with Aelita."

He took a seat in front of me. I became tense.

"Let's not."

"That depresses you?"

"No."

"You think her death was your fault?"

The heart monitor spiked again.

"There you go….see when stress is introduced the heart can only take so much….and I can tell you that her death wasn't your fault…letting her live would have been your mistake."

I let out a breath.

"You don't understand I-"

"Loved her." Dr. De'Ath said before I could. "You loved her!"

Like before Dr. De'Ath grabbed my face. His breath was close to mine. I grunted as he held my face tightly. All the while the heart monitor kept beeping in an annoying tone.

"She loved you….and if you let her live she would have never returned her love."

The stress and the strain on my brain and my heart were weakening me. I was breathless.

"Please stop."

That's all I could say.

"The more pain I induce to you is how much we are going to take away….Now think, think hard about her, close your eyes think!" He shouted. "Think to yourself what really would have happened if you kept her alive, you know it deep down that killing her was the best thing you could have ever done for her, You took her pain away!"

My fist being to clench.

"She would have been at the mercy of Xana for the rest of her life!"

With the sound of Xana's name, I pushed Dr. De'Ath away from me. I quickly ripped the monitor from my wrist and threw on the ground, stopping only to catch my breath and wipe the sweat from my bangs.

"I might have took her pain away but the pain I feel for taking hers away will never go away. My heart once bled for Aelita but now I have no more left to bleed."

I grunted and held my chest. As I did so Dr. De'Ath went to the door and knocked on it, a nurse with a glass of water walked in and handed it to me. Robert closed the door and I took a sip of the water as he sat back down in front of me. He stared at me with those eyes of his and I leaned my head back in the chair taking in small breaths.

"This Aelita….she's cut you deeply….you can't eat, sleep or enjoy life because you think you took her life away."

"Xana he tortures me…..everyday…he's always there."

I swallowed heavily before speaking again.

"Always…and it makes me wonder why did I even kill Aelita if Xana was just gonna live on."

"Another sad thing about the past is wishing to know then what we know now."

I nodded and he let out a shy smile. I tried to smile but I could not. Our session ended with a long talk about how I used to fight Xana….with Ulrich, Odd, Yumi….and Aelita….about how it's just a memory now. As I spoke with him, I kept thinking to myself, what if I knew about the virus inside Aelita before Xana managed to take control of her. Could I have saved her in a different way? Could I have saved her at all? Or was it meant to be? If Aelita were here should be able to help me figure out the answers. This has been my fault from the very beginning, I released Xana, and he's been out there ever since, and if it wasn't for me, Aelita, would still be alive right now. I'm hoping Dr. De'Ath can help me look past that fact, and help me move on with my life. I have to get over this. I have to forget…..Aelita…..

Fighting Xana used to be all fun games, it was almost like playing hero every day, until I lost the love of my life. Xana took my life way, I'm hoping with Dr. De'Ath's help I can get it back. I'm going back to him…

Tomorrow.

Computer programs have bugs and sometimes they can't be fixed, but I'm human and I'm hoping I can be.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Session 2

"Good Jeremie."

Dr. De'Ath spoke out in that tone of voice that was sweet like honey but had a bit of darkness in the background, it was low and gruff.

"You've returned to me."

"Yeah."

I sat in the same familiar chair as last time, and picked at the same heart monitor on my wrist. Dr. De'Ath's eyes never turned away from me.

"How are we today?"

That same question.

"Fine."

That same answer.

Every session always began the same, but ended differently.

"Good….Good…" Dr. De'Ath said slowly. Then he brought his hand up to his face and scratched his chin, and looked up at the ceiling as if it were supposed to do something. I looked down. I couldn't face him today for some odd reason.

"You know….Something's been bugging me since you left our last session… I must ask you this…Is Xana always on your mind?

I looked up at him slowly, he was now looking down at me and he had his hands stuck in his pockets.

My mind spoke out. "Yes." However when I replied it came out:

"No….No sir."

Dr. De'Ath's eyes narrowed and he took his hands from his pockets and folded them.

"Jeremie…."

I sighed. He could taste my lie.

"Sometimes…Xana is….other times it's what's going to happen to the world if he destroys it."

"Interesting."

He unfolded his arms and pulled up a stool and sat directly in front of me before speaking again.

"You do not think of your family at all?"

"I do but….but not always."

"So, you care more about Xana then you do your own family?"

The heart monitor beeped the moment he asked and I slapped my wrist.

"No." I said quickly.

"Then you put your family before Xana."

In one quick motion the heart monitor beeped again and I held my wrist tightly and closed my eyes.

"No, I…I…don't know."

I held my eyes shut tightly.

"Why is hard for you to admit, that Xana is always on your brain…that…._Aelita_ is always on your brain?

"I don't know…"

"Look at me."

I opened my eyes and he had a clipboard and he took a pen from his pocket on his lab coat. I watched has he clicked the pen and placed its tip near the paper.

"How about we try this exercise, I'm going to say a word and you say the first word that pops into your brain that corresponds with the word I say… Ready?"

I closed my eyes again. Tighter this time.

"Go." I said and let out a breath. I heard a sigh from him and then the first word was thrown out there.

"Friendship?"

"Dead."

"Family?"

"Maddie."

"Hate?"

"Xana."

"Powerful?"

"Xana."

"Beautiful?"

"Aelita."

I can't believe I just said that. But I did. In the darkness as my eyes remained shut, I heard Dr. De'Ath click the pen.

"Hm….Love?" He said slowly.

I opened my eyes and looked at him as the heart monitor began to beep rather quickly.

"What?" I asked, even though I heard him clearly.

"Love." He repeated.

"Love?" I questioned.

"Love." He said again.

I let out a sigh.

"Love Jeremie?" "What do you think of when I say…Love?"

"Love?" I repeated.

"Yes!" Dr. De'Ath shouted in frustration.

I looked around the room and then closed my eyes again. My breathing became harder but then I let it all blow over and I let out a sigh and said:

"Um….pass."

Dr. De'Ath gave me a strange look.

"Pass?" He said sternly. "Pass?" he repeated.

"I…I can't…"

"What about Emily?" You should have said her the first time I said the word!"

"I know…I just can't….It's….complicated."

"It's complicated!" "It shouldn't be!" "You love Emily right?"

"Yes I do….I just….

"What's wrong with Emily?"

"Nothing!" I shouted loudly. In that moment the heart monitor spiked, and I began to breathe deeply.

Dr. De'Ath put the pen away and turned slowly toward me and cleared his throat.

"Well….let's talk about your wife?" "By talking about her…I might be able to discover the flaw in your love for her."

"I don't have a flaw….it's just….it….It's just Aelita was always love for me…. She loved me…and I loved her…

Dr. De'Ath gave a small frown and slowly looked at the floor before looking at me.

"And she's gone…"

There was a broken connection between us. Almost like dead air filled the room. I broke the silence with a simple yeah and I could feel tears coming to my eyes. I didn't want this to be the moment where I looked him in the eyes, a broken promise that he would never see me cry. I had to push the tears and the thought away. I turned away from him quickly as I felt it would start any minute.

"Jeremie…"

I knew I would break down in small sobs, but I was fighting it.

"But…..Emily was my new love….because I… I was close to killing myself and Emily stopped me. She helped me to my feet and I looked at her…. I stared long and hard at her face and I just… I don't know… I felt this….. This strong passion for…..

"Just by her face….." Dr. De'Ath interrupted. "Just by her face you wanted to be with her?"

I shook my head no.

"No?"

I could feel tears but I didn't let him see my face.

"No…it…it was because of her face, I wanted to be with her…. It was because I saw….

I couldn't speak without my voice cracking. I would hide my face but not the sadness. I couldn't contain it. I placed my head in my hands.

"What? What was it! What did you see?" Dr. De'Ath spoke out.

I tried to speak as I covered my face with my hands.

"Aelita."

"What?"

I slowly looked up at Dr. De'Ath. There were tears, but they were silent. I didn't even tremble, but they did run down my face. I didn't know how to stop them.

"I saw Aelita's face when I first looked at her… I don't know why…. But I did…. And it's because of Aelita I married Emily."

I hid my face again and I felt a hand touch my shoulder. It was comforting in a way.

"Jeremie, I 'm not going to say you don't love your wife….because I know you do…. And I'm thinking maybe…just maybe….Aelita' s face appeared just to let you know that you need to move on…and Emily's here for you and she always will be…. Aelita's face appeared because she wanted to leave you a message…. That you are never alone… and you never will be alone…..Love can really surprise you and take your breath away….but in Aelita's case…. She didn't want to take your breath away….she wants you to breathe your last breath with Emily."

Dr. De'Ath gave me a smile. It was a warm embracing smile. A caring smile. I was finally able to connect with him better than I did the first time. Late that night after the second session, Emily laid in bed reading a book, and I was in the medicine cabinet taking my daily dosage. Two pills twice a day for anxiety, and another two for depression. As I took the pills, what Robert had said echoed in my brain. I let out a small smile before turning off the bathroom light and entered the bedroom. From there I crawled in bed next to Emily and grabbed her by the waist. She put her book down and let out a laugh. I kissed her passionately and smiled at her.

"You're…"

I gave her another kiss.

"Happy." She said breathless.

I gave another smile and said;

"I had forgotten what if felt like…"

Emily gave me huge smile, and kissed me. I reached over her and turned off the light on the night stand. As we began to get comfortable, I thought it would be a great time to do something I haven't in a while. As we kissed I began to remove her nightgown. She smiled as she kissed me. I knew she wanted the same thing. However as she reached for a special part of me, Maddie screamed. I quickly jumped from the bed as her screams became louder. It was a high-pitched scream that almost stopped my heart. As I reached her bedroom and flicked on the lights, she was kicking her blankets and screaming at the top of her lungs.

"Maddie!" I shouted.

At the sound of my voice she began screaming;

"Daddy!"

I rushed over to her and grabbed her by the arms and she fought with me.

"Daddy!" She screamed louder.

She began crying, and she did not want me to touch her.

"I'm here!" I shouted over her screams. "It's just a nightmare!"

She took in deep breaths after each scream and then she began to calm. I slowly pulled her close to me and wrapped her in a hug.

"He wants me….he wants me!" Maddie suddenly screamed.

"Who?" I shouted.

"HE WANTS ME!" She cried.

"Ssh…"

I placed my hand on her head and I began to rock her. I heard footsteps behind me and I turned to see Emily in tears standing in the doorway in her white robe. I looked back at Maddie, and as she mumbled he wants me over and over to herself I pulled back her hair back behind one ear and whisper softly.

"Who wants you baby?"

Then, and there….through tears and a whisper, I heard it. My heart sank and my breath ran short, as I heard my own flesh and blood my little girl utter the name:

"Xana."


End file.
